Before having the chance to play The Ultimate Bastich (better known as Lobo) in the upcoming Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow movie, actor Jason Momoa had the chance to bring another hero to life. For more than a decade, he was none other than Aquaman in an assortment of DCEU titles on both the big and small screen — Batman v Superman, Justice League, two solo films — the list goes on. But as much as the world might know him for his fantastical protagonist roles, Momoa actually had a little bit of an acting detour just before he stepped into the comic book adaptation world.
Instead of transforming into any kind of superhero (or antihero, with regard to his newest casting), he stepped into the role of a villain that was inspired by the evil HAL 9000 in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Specifically, Momoa was to become a deranged A.I. program who hunted and killed any humans who came its way.
Just three years before starring in 2017’s The Shape of Water, actor, writer, and director David Hewlett had an idea to create a film from the viewpoint of 2001’s main antagonist. In an interview with Blastr (now SyFy Wire), he professes that the thought of Hal actually killing Dave lived as a possibility in his mind ever since he saw the science fiction film as a child. With 2014’s Debug, he gets to explore just that. Six jailed computer hackers are led by a corrections officer named Capra to bring a huge abandoned spacecraft back to full operational order. But just like in every other horror movie set in space, things go south and fast.
‘Debug’ Has Jason Momoa as a Villain, Not a Hero
Debug
- Release Date
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November 3, 2014
- Runtime
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86 minutes
Once power is restored and the crew goes about their separate ways rebooting different modules, the entire system swiftly locks down. Jason Momoa, being the malignant program called Iam (clever wordplay on A.I.), starts torturing and eliminating those who were attempting to delete the ship’s data. While it can’t be denied that Debug is a typical, low-budget TV movie, something very interesting is happening here. Put a cold, emotionless spin on any jovial role that Momoa has ever been cast in, and that awful, disturbing persona is what he inevitably embodies for Iam.
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Debug also resorts to the cheapest horror tropes at times. For example, the spacecraft that our characters are currently exploring just happened to be carrying the most sadistic criminals before the movie started. After killing them, Iam absorbed their mentalities and physical makeup through the chips in their heads — that is the explanation given as to how he knows how to trap and fight (to lethal means, that is). The one and only couple in the movie seems to have the least amount of brains, and there’s a “last escape pod” situation (which we all knew wasn’t going to be the end of the story anyway).
Even 11 years after its premiere, the idea behind Hewlett’s movie is full of creativity. A.I. is a trending topic these days. The script, on the other hand, is bare bones for the most part. Luckily, Momoa’s character development (as well as the actor’s unique take on the part) helps elevate the movie.
Jason Momoa’s Scenes Make This Movie
Two scenes in particular do show this powerful combination at work (between actor and character). He uses the sensory bath to transport one of the hackers into a torture room filled with the souls of all the criminals he killed. You only get to see many, many hands coming around from the other side of the entrance door (all dying to get a piece of the trapped woman), but that’s more than enough to show you what this psychopathic A.I. can do if given the chance. Evidently, some do get free, as she ends up dead in the next scene when the audience meets her again.
In another, one of the hacker prisoners named Kaida sends her own simulation into the bio-digital world to fight Iam. We’ll probably never know if this was the director’s decision or if Momoa decided to add this himself, but the way the evil computer entity almost slithers his whole body into position, eager to slice this next possible victim, is something you thought you would never see him pull off so well. Even though the sequence is short, it could be the most intimidating shot of the film’s malicious A.I. in action. Iam may have a human form unlike HAL 9000, but that doesn’t mean any and all creepiness is lost in translation.
Does ‘Debug’ Stand the Test of Time?
Besides Hewlett making one of the most underrated casting decisions in regard to Debug, the other cast members deserve recognition for making up the marooned programmers. Adam Butcher plays James, the youngest member who has clear motivations for doing what he’s doing — and that’s to get back to his disabled brother. That’s the one bright arc in this movie, and you end up rooting for his survival.
As mentioned at the beginning, Capra is brought to life by Adrian Holmes (Arrow, Bel-Air). The character is rude, harsh, and demeaning, but the transformation into a vicious murderer, due to Iam’s intervention, is an entertaining change from a normal death. Holmes plays much better as a terrifying killer than an annoying boss.
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This science fiction horror flick is just not remembered fondly. Three out of the four critics who have publicly reviewed it don’t have kind words, and audiences seem to share the same sentiment. But in all fairness, this is not the type of movie you analyze with a magnifying glass. Set in the future, a team of incarcerated techies are stalked by deadly data shaped like a human. Is it deep? Of course not, but Jason Momoa certainly delivers a performance that shows a range from him usually not seen these days. Debug is available to rent on Apple TV and Google Play.
